Deron Williams was once considered an elite NBA point guard. Then, he was traded from Utah to the New Jersey. Now in his fourth season with the Nets, Williams is still trying to regain the form he once had.

Charles Barkley, for one, doesn’t believe it will happen.

“Deron Williams has been hurt a lot the last couple of years,” Barkley said Thursday, on a TNT conference call before the All-Star Game. “He’s never going to get back to Utah. His best days are behind him.”

In Utah, Williams was always in the argument as one of the best point guards in the league. But since he first donned a Nets uniform in February of 2011, Williams has been oft-injured. First it was a wrist, more recently it’s been ankle problems. Williams, 29, admitted last week that he’s lost confidence as he returns from his fourth ankle sprain since September.

“The first sign of Father Time is injuries,” Barkley said on the conference call, which included former NBA players and current TNT analysts Shaquille O’Neal and Kenny Smith. “You ask Kenny, you ask Shaq, you ask myself. Your first 10 years in the league you never get hurt. You never get hurt, you’re Superman. And then, once you get a certain age you’re nicked all the time.

“Kenny has a great quote,” Barkley said of Williams. “‘There’s only so many jumps in these knees, or in these ankles, and once your tires on that car start getting hurt, you’re never going to be the same. And that’s just how it is.”

O’Neal also chimed in on Williams, acknowledging that he had read reports of the three-time All-Star’s crisis of confidence.

“I was actually kind of dumbfounded when I heard a great player say, ‘I don’t have any confidence,’” O’Neal said. “Especially when you have the ball. … Deron Williams has always been a guy that loves to have the ball. A very explosive player. He should now — especially after [saying he's] not very confident — he should focus on getting everybody else involved.”

Before Williams was traded from the Jazz to the Nets, Williams and legendary coach Jerry Sloan got into a heated argument at halftime of a game. Sloan retired the next day. Two weeks after Sloan’s retirement, Williams was traded to the Nets.

“I think Deron Williams took for granted how great Jerry Sloan was,” Kenny Smith said. “He’s a hall of fame coach who has the ability to get the best out of his players: John Stockton, Karl Malone, the list goes on. So a lot of times, not knowing who’s going to coach and getting new coaches, I think he took it for granted. I don’t think he takes it for granted now that Jerry Sloan was coaching him.”